


bigger than these bones

by besully (Briar_Elwood)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: "You made me loud" said the Empty, 15.20? I don't know her, Fix-It, M/M, What can we do with that?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28993851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briar_Elwood/pseuds/besully
Summary: Dean looks over to the Empty to see it’s screaming. Around them the emptiness starts to blink and figures start to appear. Realizing they’re running out of time, Dean turns back to Cas.A classic fix it, working with the "You made me loud" line from the Empty in 15.18.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	bigger than these bones

Dean doesn’t know how long he’s been walking when he finally sees something. He doesn’t dare hope at first, but the color of that trenchcoat is unmistakable, and he starts running. The thing about running in a space where there’s literally nothing, though, is it takes a lot longer to get to your destination than you think. He’s thoroughly winded by the time he comes up on the sleeping form on the angel, and he collapses to his knees, shaking Cas by the shoulder.

“C’mon, Cas, wake up,” he says through gasping breaths. “C’mon, man. Wake up. We gotta go, gotta get outta here. Wake up. C’mon.”

When the second trenchcoated figure shows up to Dean’s right it shouldn’t be unexpected, but it still startles Dean enough that he jumps. Not-Cas squints at him.

“You’re human,” it says. “You shouldn’t be here.”

The voice the Empty uses is high and tilted, off in a way that makes Dean feel nauseous. He glares at it and indicates Cas, keeping a hand on Cas’s shoulder and squeezing.

“Yeah, well, neither should he.”

The Empty’s lips twitch like it’s trying not to smile. “No, you see, he made a deal with me, and now he’s mine--”

“Actually, he’s  _ mine _ ,” Dean interrupts, taking the angel blade out from his coat. The Empty raises an eyebrow at the weapon.

“You realize that can’t hurt me?”

“It’s not meant to.”

Cas stirs slightly under Dean’s hand.

“Dean?”

“Cas,” Dean breathes a sigh of relief. “Hey, buddy, I’m gonna get you outta here.” Dean helps Cas sit up as the angel blinks away the fuzz of sleep and takes in the situation surrounding them. “Listen,” Dean continues, but then the most horrific screaming fills the… everything. Dean nearly drops the angel blade as he raises his hands to cover his ears, but that does no good. Even Cas looks in pain at the sound. Dean looks over to the Empty to see it’s screaming. Around them the emptiness starts to blink and figures start to appear. Realizing they’re running out of time, Dean turns back to Cas.

He mimes running the blade across his throat and pulls out a vial--a very special one that Jack had given him before sending him here. He puts the vial to his throat and then looks at Cas significantly. Cas stares at the vial and the blade uncomprehendingly for a moment before looking up at Dean, a hard set to his jaw. He nods once, sharply, and tilts his head back.

The Empty is still screaming.

Gently, keeping an eye on the ever-growing number of figures appearing in the space around them, Dean makes a small cut at Cas’s Adam’s apple, pressing the vial there to catch the grace. The grace swirls into the vial slowly, delicately, with no care for the hurry they’re in. When it finally is all in the vial, Dean corks it and presses the blade in Cas’s hand.

The Empty is still screaming.

Dean can actually recognize some of the figures. Alastair. Brady. Belphegor. Samhain. Gadreel. Ishim. Rachel. Uriel. So many more he didn’t know or remember the names of. They’re waking up, slowly, noticing the scene in front of them, getting angry, and coming closer.

But the portal Jack promised is opening now that Cas is human, and Cas is being pulled to it. Dean grabs Cas’s hand, just as the Empty suddenly ceases making noise and  _ jumps _ at Dean. Dean rolls out of the way but loses his grip on the vial. The Empty snarls and jumps again, but Dean can feel the pull of the portal. He snatches the vial in the last second and--

* * *

It’s a warm, muggy night in the suburban town in Florida where they pop out. Dean grips the vial in his hand tightly, making sure it’s actually there, before letting out a long breath and turning to Cas. Cas is staring around at the back alleyway they’re in like he can’t believe he’s actually there.

“You saved me,” he murmurs when he finally meets Dean’s gaze. Dean grins crookedly.

“You could say I ‘gripped you tight and raised you from perdition’, huh?”

Cas either doesn’t get the joke or is too stunned to find it funny. Dean shakes his head and holds out the vial of grace for him.

“Here. Jack says not to power back up just yet because the Empty’ll just take you right back, but he’s going to negotiate with it and get you out of your deal. He said it just may take some time.” Dean pauses. “Like, a lot of time, but he guarantees it.”

“Jack?” Cas echoes blankly.

Dean shakes his head. Duh. “Right, uh. Jack’s god now. We beat Chuck. He’s just… some guy now. Human. Fucker.”

“And Jack got you into the Empty?”

Dean nods. “Yup. Took a while to figure out how to do it, but he’s persistent. Anyway,” Dean shakes the vial a little. “You’ll want to hold onto this, I guess.”

Cas looks at the grace with reverence and, after a moment, closes Dean’s fingers around the glass. “You’ll keep it safe for me.”

Dean blinks and suddenly the glass feels warm in his hand. He swallows thickly and pulls his hand back, clearing his throat. “Uh, yeah. Okay. Sure.” Dean has to clear his throat once more before he can talk again.

“You’re, um.” He reaches out tentatively towards Cas’s neck. “You’re bleeding.”

Cas touches the cut curiously, inspecting the blood on his fingertips like it’s something he’s never seen before. Dean tugs him by the elbow and takes him to where the car is waiting.

“You knew where we’d end up?” Cas asks as Dean rummages in the trunk for a first aid kit.

“Jack got it all figured out,” Dean explains. “Which is handy because Jody and the girls had some emergency they needed Sam’s help for.”

“Saving me couldn’t have waited?”

Dean shoots him a glare. “No. It couldn’t have. Come here.”

Cas walks close to Dean and tilts his head back. Dean cleans the cut gently and tamps down the anxiety building up in his stomach.

“Cas, I got something to say.”

“Okay.”

“Before, when you… When you left, you said there was one thing you wanted and you knew you couldn’t have it,” Dean says, smearing triple antibiotic on a bandage. “But you were wrong. You can have--”

“I know.”

Dean blinks up at Cas, who’s now looking at him intently. Dean scowls and sticks the bandage on Cas’s neck with a little less gentleness than before.

“What does that mean?”

“By the time I figured out how you felt I had already made the deal.”

Dean stares at him for a moment before it sinks in. “And the deal was as soon as you felt happiness, the Empty would take you.”

Cas nods. “Exactly.”

Dean sits down on the edge of Baby’s trunk, letting this new information sink in. This meant Cas knew how he felt. He didn’t have to say it. Did he still want to say it? He should, shouldn’t he?

“How long have you known?” he asks instead.

“Purgatory,” Cas says quietly. “Your prayer.”

Of course. That’s when Dean had figured it out for himself, of course that’s when Cas would figure it out. Because Cas was always more perceptive about what the hell was going on in Dean’s head than Dean was.

“Cas, I--I--”

Cas leans forward and rests his forehead against Dean’s. “I love you, Dean.”

Dean lets out a huff of breath. Thanks, Cas. Making it easier. “I love you too, Cas.”

“Let’s go home.”

Dean reaches up and takes Cas by the head, pressing a kiss to his lips, short and sweet. “Okay. Let’s.”


End file.
